


Sunrise and Hope

by Adair_Coffin



Category: Taboo (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-08
Updated: 2017-09-08
Packaged: 2018-12-25 05:23:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12029049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adair_Coffin/pseuds/Adair_Coffin
Summary: Lorna and Cholmondley wait patiently for dawn to come.EDITED!!- I've edited and made this a little longer, and with a little more James and Lorna interractions. I just kept feeling it was missing something. So I think I've added in the extra ingredient. I also rewatched the scene in the ballroom when Cholmondley twirls Lorna around and James steps in. And when I say 'rewatched', I mean, sadly, trying to figure out from the shadow if James put his hand on her lower back. I was rewarded for my efforts....





	Sunrise and Hope

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: These characters do not belong to me. I am only speculating on scenes not shown.
> 
> Just a little fic I wrote based on the dueling and party scenes which I love. I just wanted to speculate how Lorna spent her time between Geary challenging James to the duel and pistols at dawn. There's four hours or more unaccounted for. I wanted to stay somewhat close to what canon might look like, but perhaps next time I'll take a left turn at Albuquerque for James and Lorna, who I adore!! (and although he didn't say it in the scene, I like to think that James Delaney's eyes flashing at the sight of Lorna all dressed up spoke volumes for his small fanning flame/admiration/like? for her.
> 
> Please be gentle. It has been a long time since a show has inspired any fanfic out of me.

“Do You Accept?” The drunken roar that uttered from Thorne Geary’s throat as his friends came to assist him in standing caused Lorna Bow Delaney to jump, ever so slightly. Geary’s wife, James Keziah Delaney’s sister (and wasn’t this a night of revelations), had come to his side, but he pushed her away, growling at her, staring back to the object of his vitriol, who had barely moved.  
As James Delaney nodded his head, the crowd that had gathered on the porch of the Countess Musgrove’s grand house began to move. Clapping and whoops pierced the air. Lorna let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. The scene around her was moving at normal pace now, laughter, clinking glasses. Lorna swallowed bile.

“Well, well….not the usual turn of events at one of these soirees”, the voice of the Chemist, oily and drunk on his own supply, dripped into Lorna’s ear. The night air had turned from pleasant and cool to chilly and damp all within a few moments of Geary’s challenge, despite the fire pits flaming around them.  
She looked at the man, fed up with the mystery and pretense and secrecy of the evening. “Who are you”, she asked with impatience.  
He smiled and gave a slight bow. “My name is Cholmondley, dear lady. I am a chemist- a man of science.”  
“And you know do know James Delaney.” It wasn’t a question.  
“Oh, yes”, he grinned, his eyes alight and leaving hers. “And he appears now, like a beacon in the night.”  
Lorna turned to see that James had indeed joined them. She hadn’t even noticed him move from his position on the lawn, but his movements, either stealth and catlike or large and menacing, had ceased to frighten or startle her. She heard the Countess calling for coffee for her guests who wished to stay, as well as more champagne. Geary’s friends had already ushered him away.  
“Take the carriage and go home”, James said flatly, pulling at his shirt where his cravat had disappeared.  
“I will not”, she retorted. “And what the hell am I supposed to tell Brace?”  
“If I may”, Mr. Cholmondley chimed in, “I would be pleased to look after the lady while you prepare for your rendezvous in a few hours.”  
Lorna watched her stepson (how utterly perverse that seemed, now that she had met him) mull this over. Finally he nodded, shortly, but his gaze was focused on Cholmondley. “I trust that there will be no ‘assisting’ in recovery from any chemical ingestion.”  
Cholmondley held up his hands. “No, Mr. Delaney. I think that Miss Bow has not ingested any of my product…no poisons, I assure you.”  
James was silent gave another short nod, and Lorna was completely stunned by this exchange, as if she had returned from intermission too late and had missed a key element of the play. Giving her one last glance, he turned and strode off.  
She turned on her new companion. “So what the hell was that about?”  
Cholmondley smiled. “We have a few hours, Miss Bow, until Mr. Delaney’s appointment.” He offered his arm. “I shall be happy to escort you wherever you wish to go.”  
She took his arm with a smirk. “And perhaps you can tell me what it is you are useful for to Mr. Delaney?”  
“Ah, dear lady, that I could… but come, and ‘we’ll live and pray and sing and tell old tales and laugh- Talk of court news and we’ll talk with them too, who loses and who wins, who’s in, who’s out’…” he let the lines of King Lear drift away as they made their way back inside, and she smiled. It was hot and miserable, and Lorna pushed away champagne. All the guests were staring at her, and whispering.  
“Never mind them”, Cholmondley whispered, sounding more sober than he had in all of their encounters. “I will fetch us some of the Countess’s coffee and perhaps a treat. Don’t roam far.”  
As he left her side, Lorna returned to the porch, and stared out across the lawn into the darkness. She had no idea where James had gone to, and no wish to pursue him into the gloom surrounding the house. She also wondered what had become of Mrs. Geary. She had probably been bundled home to await her husband and brother’s fates, like a proper wife. 

James had tried that with her but she had refused. Lorna refused to put a finger to it, but like a turn about the stage, an adventure with James Delaney made her feel alive. The thought of leaving the Countess Musgrove’s party never occurred to her. But the hate coming off of Thorne Geary in waves worried her. A drunken man upset over a perceived insult was one thing, but this hatred was something else entirely. She didn’t trust him not to shoot James in the back before the duel could even take place.  
“Perhaps his wife will be able to talk him out of it”, Cholmondley said, rejoining her. She took the cup of coffee and smiled at the small cake he produced out of his pocket. They both sat down on the steps. “Perhaps the actress who attends a party with a cannibal will be able to stop them, but no one in that crowd”, he stuck his thumb back, “hopes that you will do that. It will take away the morning’s entertainment, and cancel a number of wagers.”  
“Really, and what wagers are those?”  
“Oh, let’s see. That the aggrieved husband will shoot Delaney between the eyes before they’ve even taken up their markers on the field… that Delaney will gut and eat said husband for breakfast with some eggs and tea- there’s even one that says that the beautiful actress will steal away with the chemist… what no?” Cholmondley smiled gently when Lorna turned her face to him, eyes wet with tears. “Come now. It can’t all be that bad. I think Mr. Delaney will come out all right in the end. Even if you don’t run away with me tonight, or ever. In fact, I should only hope that if I were to ever find myself in Mr Delaney’s position, I would inspire tears from a woman as lovely as you. He is… quite lucky.”  
Lorna felt Cholmondley’s arm go around her in a comforting manner. “When light comes, I will take you to the landing where you can watch the boats pass, Miss Bow. It would be my honor.”  
Lorna dozed a bit on Cholmondley’s arm until he suggested that she lay down on one of the long settees the Countess had set out on the wide veranda. When she had raised an eyebrow at him, he put up his hands.  
“I assure you, Miss Bow, my intentions are completely honorable. I did, after all, make a promise to our mutual, terrifying friend to look after you, and from the looks he gave you, I feel that if I were to try anything unseemly, I would lose a few choice pieces of my anatomy. So to pass the time, we must create other diversions, I’m afraid.”  
Lorna warmed at the thought of James being possessive over her, and remembered his firm hand on her back, his gaze as it followed Cholmondley’s pipes from her neck to her breasts, then the steel glare James had fixed upon him. She had sensed it as much as her current companion.  
“I’m not interested in your laughing gas, Mr. Cholmondley.”  
He clicked the stoppers together. “I’m afraid I am all out anyway, my dear lady.” His eyes roamed all over her. “And what are you to Mr Delaney, may I wonder”, he murmured, but did not press.  
Instead, they traded lines of Shakespeare, which calmed her nerves. They were laughing, albeit without the assistance of chemical inhalation. Lorna felt more awake and alive than she had since coming to London. Tucked comfortably onto the divan, Lorna closed her eyes. Cholmondley had disappeared in search of more coffee. She heard guests and servants beyond the entrance way. It was as if Musgrove’s household never went to sleep. Turning over on the divan, she stretched her limbs. Night was just beginning to fade.  
“You should go home”, came a familiar voice, from behind her and she came up to sitting and turned.  
“My God, James, you frightened me. Where the hell have you been?”  
Gone were his party clothes. He was back in his armor, long coat billowing slightly as he slowly made his way up the stairs. His eyes were partially hidden by the brim of his hat.  
“Has Mr. Cholmondley been decent to you?”  
“Of course. Apparently you frighten him. He is convinced he would lose a thumb if he so much as sneezes in my direction.”  
“Do I frighten you”, James asked suddenly.  
“Your recklessness does, yes. But I’m not afraid of you.”  
There was a thick silence between them.  
“If you’re not going to go home, then I want you to stay here”, he stated finally, changing the subject.  
“Mr. Cholmondley has already stated that he will show me the way to the riverbank.”  
James sat down next to her. “If he touches you, I will deal with him. Just promise me you won’t stab him. I do need him, but he doesn’t necessarily need both thumbs.”  
“My hero”, Lorna drawled.  
A man came across the lawn, and James stood up, checking his watch.  
“Mr. Delaney, the boat is ready sir.”  
Lorna suddenly grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. She wasn’t sure why she did it, but James looked at her in surprise and nodded. He gave the quickest squeeze. Then he was gone.

 

Guests were preparing to make their way to see James and Geary head to the island where the duel had been arranged. Lorna took the chemist’s arm, and followed the small parade down to the riverbank.  
Cholmondley released her. “Here, Miss Bow, is where I leave you, as I have other work to attend to that I assure you has nothing to do with Mr. Delaney in any way.” He winked. “I hope all works out for our mutual friend, I hope he is safe. I’d rather have such men my friends than enemies.”  
“Julius Caesar. Not the outcome I am hoping for.”  
“Nor I, Miss Bow. Good Day.”  
He gave a nod of his hat and was gone.

 

“Where is your Second?”  
“I don’t have one”, James Delaney said, nonchalantly.  
“But the code requires you have a second”, the Code Duello argued.  
“Don’t have one”, he repeated.  
“Let’s just say this woman is yours and she is late”, the Code Duello waved in frustration. James turned. He knew exactly who it would be, but he did not expect her to be soaked all nearly all the way up her dress. She stopped right next to him. Despite the damp and the river she had just walked through, he could still smell her perfume, clinging to her from the night before. Her eyes were rimmed with black. She looked so fragile and small, but defiant.  
“Couldn’t you find a boat like a normal person”, Thoyt cried. Thoyt’s irritation at the entire situation was beginning to rival Delaney’s. They were civilized men standing on an island at dawn tossing bullets at one another.  
“I was bored and I’ve never seen a man shot before”, Lorna spat back, glaring at Geary. It was obvious to him whom she expected to take a fatal bullet out here. Even if she was just acting, and perhaps more frightened due to her concern for him, it was flattering all around. He was used to being the lone man, and for a moment, he did not feel so outcast, or so different, or alone. Out of the corner of his eye James saw Geary sneer at Lorna’s words and tried to keep from smirking.  
“Why don’t you go stand over there by the fire and keep warm”, he suggested gently. He knew what was coming, that the Company or the Crown would not let him get killed at the hands of his ridiculous brother in law, but Lorna could not know that. At the word, he turned and strode back to his point, pistol loaded. As he walked, he wished he had told her that she had looked beautiful. He’d thought it, when he’d turned to face her arrival in the parlor, and his eyes betrayed him, taking her in. That had been ages ago.  
He turned back towards Geary, pistol still raised, watching carefully. Geary stopped, aimed and fired, and for a moment, James thought he had calculated wrong, that Geary would kill him. But the smoke cleared and there was only powder on his waistcoat. He had heard Lorna gasp, caught the brief look of horror and confusion on her face. She must be freezing. He should have offered her his coat.  
Instead, he took aim at Geary, just to fuck with him for a few more moments. And then he blew the head off the back of Geary’s second.  
“It would appear that my life is more precious than yours”, he couldn’t help saying. “Good Day.”  
He gathered his coat and hat and turned towards Lorna, motioning for her to come with him.  
As they made their way back to his boat, he put his coat around her shoulders. Lorna hesitated for a moment, but continued next to him, touching taking his arm.  
“Oh my god”, she whispered excitedly. The feel of her tiny hands clutching his arm kept his mind steady. “I wasn’t sure if he was going to kill you even after that.”  
“Mm”, he agreed. She stopped when they reached the boat. “Miss Bow, not a word of this to Brace. Or else you can swim back across the river.”  
She smiled at him. A weary smile, but lovely, just the same, and conspiratorial over their shared secret, though they both knew that news of this incident would not take long to make it to Brace’s ear. “What is it”, he asked, as she appeared to be holding something back, and his frustration over not being able to read her mind was making his heart race a little. To counter it, he picked her up suddenly, earning a delightful gasp, and placed her in the boat, then pushed the tiny craft off the sand and hopped in, giving a nod to the oarsman.  
“Oh, nothing”, she said, although she knew it was not nothing to see him alive across from her in the tiny boat and that the elation and relief she was feeling should be pushed down. Instead, she shivered delightfully, wrapped in his giant coat. “I am simply glad I was up so late, for that’s the reason I was up so early.”


End file.
